Electronic devices often generate a considerable amount of heat that must be effectively removed to keep the device and associated systems in proper working order. The most effective way to remove heat is via conduction. Conduction requires direct contact between two conducting surfaces. Once contact between the surfaces has been made, heat will naturally flow from the surface with more heat to the surface with less heat. Among other things, the amount of heat transfer is dependent upon the contact pressure between the two surfaces. The higher the force pressing the two surfaces together the higher the heat transfer from one surface to the other.
Because conduction is generally the most effective form of heat dissipation, almost all electronic devices conduct heat away from their body with the use of a heat sink. A heat sink is an apparatus made from a heat conducting material that has a flat face on one side which is abutted against a surface on the electronic device. The heat sink draws heat from a surface of electronic device to a plurality of fins on the other side of the heat sink that are exposed to the air. The fins of the heat sink act to increase the surface area available for heat dissipation by drawing heat from the electronic device to the fins and releasing the heat into the air.
Electronic devices, however, radiate heat off of all sides, and heat sinks generally draw heat from only one surface on the electronic device. Attempts have been made to extract heat from additional sides of the device. These attempts, however, are either prohibitively expensive, too large, or not easily adaptable to varying situations. For example, sometimes a separate heat sink is attached with a fastener, or set of fasteners, to one side of the electronic device and then a second fastener, or set of fasteners, attaches the heat sink to a primary heat sink. This approach is often problematic due to the large number of fasteners required, the clearance required to access the fasteners that attach the heat sink to the electronic device, and the fact that often the electronic device to be cooled does not include features for accepting the fastener connections to the heat sink.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a cost effective and compact heat transfer mechanism that can be applied to the side of an electronic device.